Photo from video courtesy DHHL

(BIVN) – A virtual lot selection meeting was held on Saturday at the Naʻalehu Community Center, as the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands offered 38 residential Vacant Lots in the Discovery Harbour Subdivision in Kaʻū to beneficiaries.

DHHL says the walk-through event in Naʻalehu following social distancing and gathering guidelines, including the use of a virtual portion of the meeting. According to the department:

Applicants on the Hawaiʻi Island Waiting List with application dates up to January 7, 2021 were invited to attend a virtual orientation in May. Beneficiaries were then given the opportunity to attend one of three Vacant Lot workshops to learn about the building process and connect with homebuilding resources, including HPM Building Supply, Honsador Lumber, and Habitat for Humanity, ahead of the lot selection meeting.

DHHL’s Vacant Lot offer is among a variety of options provided to beneficiaries. The product is unique in that it allows a family to select and construct a home that best fits its needs.

“This is our second lot selection on Hawai‘i island in the last two months and it is always wonderful to be in-person with our beneficiaries as they select their homestead lot,” said Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair William J. Ailā Jr. “DHHL has received a record amount of Capital Improvement funding from the state in this recent legislative session and we look forward to continuing to build the infrastructure needed to develop the Department’s landholdings here on Hawai‘i Island and throughout the state.”

In Kona, DHHL recently offered a Rent-With-Option-To-Purchase product in Kealakehe within Laʻi ʻŌpua Village 4 – Akau. Beneficiaries must meet an area median income criteria to qualify.

DHHL says further Hawaiʻi Island development will continue with the groundbreaking of Subsistence Agricultural pilot projects in Honomū and Panaʻewa in the coming months.